Little Feat - S&D, C/D

Led Enema lol

https://youtu.be/ZimwfhiuR4M

Live Ultrasonic 1973 so good !

First contact:
"Hamburger Midnight" b/w "Strawberry Flats"
Little Feat (Warner Brothers 7431)

This is the masterpiece. This is perhaps the best record I've heard in several months. As usual, Warner's has picked the wrong side as the A-side. "Hamburger Midnight" is indeed a fine song, reminiscent of Johnny Winter, crackling and sizzling through two minutes packed with incredible energy. Yet it pales against "Strawberry Flats," which must be one of thr definitive statements of "where youth is at today." Dig these {partial) lyrics:

Ripped off and run outta town/Got my git-tar burned/When I was clownin'/Haven't slept in a bed for a week/And my shoes feel like part of my feet/ Let me come down/Where I won't be burden to no-one/Let me around/Give me a hole to recline in...
Knocked on my friend's door in Mooody, Texas/Asked if he had a place for me/His hair was cut off and he was wearin' a suit/ He said,/
"Not in my house! Not in my house!"
/It seemed like part of a con-spir-a-cy.

The singer is "six hours out on Strawberry Flats" and trying to get past the school bus Texas roadblock where they're "stoppin' everybody who looks too weird." The music sounds like the Band taken one step further. and it is difficult to believe that they generate so much excitement in two minutes and 21 seconds. This anthem of the Age of Paranoia deserves to be in your collection and on every radio station in the country, although I realize as I write that it is wishful thinking. The group Little Feat seems to have ex-Mother Roy Estrada, a guy named George, and another guy named Payne in it. Warner Brothers says that they have an album coming. but they're not too sure when. Watch for it, and if you don't believe me, invest 77¢ or whatever in the single.
---Ed Ward 11-26-70 from The Rolling Stone Record Review(Pocket Book edition, August 1971)

The sub

He didn't yet recognize "a guy named George" as another Mother. wiki sez:
Formative years

Lowell George met Bill Payne when George was a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Payne had auditioned for the Mothers, but had not joined. They formed Little Feat along with former Mothers' bassist Roy Estrada and drummer Richie Hayward from George's previous band, The Factory. Hayward had also been a member of the Fraternity of Man whose claim to fame was the inclusion of their "Don't Bogart That Joint" on the million-selling Easy Rider film soundtrack. The name of the band came from a comment made by Mothers' drummer Jimmy Carl Black about Lowell's "little feet". The spelling of "feat" was an homage to the Beatles.

There are three stories about the genesis of Little Feat. One has it that George showed Zappa his song "Willin'," and that Zappa fired him from the Mothers of Invention, because he felt that George was too talented to merely be a member of his band, and told him he ought to go away and form his own band. The second version has Zappa firing him for playing a 15-minute guitar solo with his amplifier off. The third version says that Zappa fired him because "Willin'" contains drug references ("weed, whites and wine"). George often introduced the song as the reason he was asked to leave the band. On October 18, 1975 at the Auditorium Theater in Rochester New York while introducing the song, George commented that he was asked to leave the band for "writing a song about dope".[3]
The band in 1975

In any version, Zappa was instrumental in getting George and his new band a contract with Warner Bros. Records. The eponymous first album delivered to Warner Bros. was recorded mostly in August and September 1970, and was released in January 1971. When it came time to record "Willin'," George had hurt his hand in an accident with a model airplane, so Ry Cooder sat in and played the song's slide part.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Feat

I can hear barrere on the composition of “feats don’t fail” it’s cool that LG sings it though

Shared by the band on FB today: their 1972 cameo on The FBI (possibly some of the only footage of the original Feat)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DbUKPKHQA8

Cool
Is it just me or does the early stuff have a real stones vibe to it? LG’s voice too and the way he strains the notes could almost be a stand in for mick

I seem to recall somewhere that the original concept behind the group was Rolling Stones + The Band, which is most obvious on the debut.

https://i.imgur.com/7OQlk6N.png

“Closest thing to Dylan” ?

this amazing bootleg is finally coming out officially for record store day:
https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/14416

Sweet!

That looks fantastic and I really hope it gets a wider release later because those 5000 copies aren't going to go far.

Yeah, but it's gonna list for $75 or something...

Probably true. In a perfect world it'd also get an affordable CD release in a few months time.

I heard you the biggest HOO
The biggest truck in town

Is every song on the first Little Feat album about long-haul truckers?

"Brides of Jesus" = Jesus Was A Truck-Drivin' Messiah

Companion Piece:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/Commander_Cody_Hot_Licks.jpg

They would later cover "Willin'"

In other news, the current lineup of Little Feat will be doing a 45th Anniversary tour doing Waiting For Columbus front-to-back next year.

They would later cover "Willin'" Yeah, but I think Ronstadt's version is better. They certainly had their moments though. They should: they spent the 60s entertaining Ann Arbor, then, having run out of financial opportunities for professional students etc., they jumped to Berkeley, became student bar faves there, and then opening act for the Dead---especially popular because they didn't jam, I've read---and maybe encourage the Dead to play more country etc. They mixed that with rockabilly, western swing, other compatibles (incl. originals, like the one about being down to seeds and stems again. Also known for attracting a mix of hippies, old trad country fans, younger suits (so also suitable for that era of Austin, Armadillo World Headquarters and so on).
I tend to prefer some of the covers, like their Greatest Hit, "Hot Rod Lincoln," also "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! That Cigarette." Liked most of the first two LPs, 1971's Lost In The Ozone and the next year's Hot Licks, Cold Steel and Trucker's Favorites, also some of the live album. Not so muchthe '75 s/t, which was supposed to be their major move, the punchline of an amazing book, Star-Making Machinery: Inside the Business of Rock and Roll, by the late great Geoffrey Stokes, from a lost world of music, money, dreams, and delusions---familiar elements, but mixing a strange brew, man.

https://i.imgur.com/OFOxCUX.jpg

Yeahhh…now I have this one and Columbus 😎

Analog willin

In a perfect world it'd also get an affordable CD release in a few months time.

― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, September 30, 2021 5:32 PM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

Since this world is far from perfect, there's going to be a more limited edition CD version of the RSD Electrif Lycanthrope.

https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/14415

https://www.discogs.com/release/9864342-Little-Feat-Little-Feat

Roll right through the night

I said roll

That RSD CD is already going for sick $$$ on eBay.

Let’s crowd source that shit

there's one on discogs for a somewhat reasonable price.

Lucked out and was able to grab an Electrif Lycanthrope CD for list (plus shipping + tax) on eBay right before Xmas. Just digging in now and HOLY SHIT what a good job Rhino did on this. Sounds like you're right there in the audience. Sucks that if this were 5-10 years ago it would have been a regular release instead of this RSD bullshit.

Very nice !

The Electrif Lycanthrope remaster is now up on streaming services.

Yasss

hello i just discovered Little Feat :D

seriously had never heard them before! they are great & right in my countryfied classic dadrock wheelhouse

Welcome to the fold veg

I was trying to find out about the Electrif Lycanthrope bootleg just recently, the title has always bothered me and I found this on a 100 Greatest Bootlegs Blog.

"Yesterday I received this e-mail from someone who wishes to remain anonymous. They used a temporary email address to protect their privacy but had difficulty posting it in the comments section. I reproduce it below:

Greetings thebasement67 and all:

To begin with, it is very, very kind of you to list 'Electrif Lycanthrope' as one of The 100 Greatest Bootlegs. This is especially delightful considering it began its Fifth Decade Of Providing Listening Joy a few years ago.
And anyone who has not followed your suggestion to get the broadcast is missing an extraordinary opportunity to get a pristine transfer of this performance.

At the time of 'Electrif Lycanthrope''s release, LITTLE FEAT were the definition of A Cult Band. Radio, even FM Radio, rarely played them. Probably more people saw them performing live during those years than ever had ever purchased 'Salin' Shoes' or 'Dixie Chicken". This would, happily, change over the next few years with the next few releases but when 'Electrif Lycanthrope' was originated and released they were far closer to A Well Treasured Secret than Indispensable To Any Record Collection.
Over the years, I have read many interpretations about the packaging. Especially the title. As you have been so very kind in your words about this work, I thought, if you do not mind, I would use this ability to comment here to answer some questions about it.

'Electrif Lycanthrope' contains no misspelled words. It appears exactly as intended. The title was inspired by a motion picture that was been broadcast as the cover was being assembled. Way back when, the US television network ABC ran movies and other odd programming late at night. This night there was a movie about a teenage werewolf that was created by Dick Clark Productions. It was a silly movie but the word "lycanthropy" was repeatedly used throughout it. I liked the overall sound of that word very much. For the cover it was changed to be a singular noun. It was used to represent the transformation we hoped would soon take place to change those who never listened to LITTLE FEAT into those who always listened to LITTLE FEAT. The word 'Electrif' was a portmanteau of two words: 'Electric", for the guitars being played, and 'Terrific', for the way LITTLE FEAT music made us all feel.

The subtitle '(Be-Bop Deluxe)' was not an error and was not listed as a reference to the English band of the same name. It was included as a reference to a genre of music, bebop, with a superlative added and was a phrase used by someone at the Anytown Office to reference any music she thought was "irresistibly cool". Its inclusion as a subtitle was the first of three clues to appear on three different LITTLE FEAT titles on Kornyfone.

The artwork on the cover of 'Electrif Lycanthrope' was from a calendar made, printed and given away by A Local Record Store. It was used because, first and foremost, it was by Neon Park and, just as importantly, the original calendar could be trimmed so that the art would fit the available space on the cover. That the art contained a Rin Tin Tin with antlers and an El Camino Real bell with a quizzical face, both entities seemingly also having transformed, just made it all the better.
It took about two hours to assemble the cover and get it camera ready. Letraset for the titles. A bottle of ink and a drafting pen, as always, for the handwritten text. The final printed piece does not have the Neon Park art in its intended position as the printer changed it after the final camera ready art was delivered. But other than that, it was printed as intended.

By the way, the seemingly nonsensical notes under the song titles, written in and around The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label ongoing mythology, do reference real places and real people. And do tell a little more about the album's creation. For example, the source for "Willin'" was supplied by someone who was, at the time, a Railroad Engineer. And the reference to Second Street was a reference to an actual Second Street and to actual people who gathered in various establishments along it to listen and, particularly, to dance to LITTLE FEAT. Girls dancing are, by definition, A Natural Wonder. And Girls dancing to LITTLE FEAT are far, far closer to Answered Prayers.

I hope this brings a little enlightenment about a few things. And, if nothing else, will answer the questions about the origin of the title once and for all. Thanks again for all of your kind words.

If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old.

Cheers,
THF"

'waiting for columbus' reissue w/three complete live shows...

https://store.rhino.com/waiting-for-columbus-8cd-7.html

How much coke can you buy for $109.98

Little Feat looks like the cast of a dramedy about the teachers at a boys school for the arts that aired for six episodes on CBS in 1987. pic.twitter.com/fGwp96uJPY

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) July 25, 2022

"Catch 'Hangin' On To The Good Times'...Friday Nights Before 'Dallas'!"

lol

special guest star this week: Meredith Baxter-Bierney

It looks like Rhino's official release of Electrif Lycanthrope is getting legitimately rolled out on a standard CD release. (It's available in Europe...I'm guessing in the U.S. soon.) Don't pay too much for it!

To be fair, the photo above looks like it was taken in 1987 too. Here's what they look like now:
https://www.ajc.com/resizer/95ji6KMOR1uiC4vbleyD8PM_oLA=/814x458/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ajc/G3IOXKTBVNF53JXPRJFMF3637U.jpg

pic.twitter.com/FYZxLbCuLn

— SNL Hosts Introducing the Musical Guest (@snlhostsintro) August 9, 2022

This might be one for the ThingsYouCan'tFindOnTheInternet thread, but...
There used to be a show on NHK radio called Weekend Sunshine, and for a while the DJ, Peter Barakan was using this ridiculously funky instrumental as the opening theme...
Somehow I learned that it was by a band that was a sideproject of the LittleFeat horn section? Maybe just a single album?
I can't remember any names (this was about twenty years ago), but the tune was brass-heavy and at least part of it was in 5/4 or 7/8 or something...

The Little Feat horn guys were actually the Tower of Power horn action, if that helps.

I mean, have you tried messaging the DJ? He's on twitter and instagram and his website even has an email address listed as well ( p✧@peterbara✧✧✧.n✧✧ )

Ha!
Thanks JDHH, I did do a safety google before posting in case the info was somehow online since I last checked (it's been years...), but I didn't think to just go straight to the source... I will try email and report back....

Any chance it's something from this?
https://www.discogs.com/master/453484-%E7%9F%A2%E9%87%8E%E9%A1%95%E5%AD%90-Japanese-Girl-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%B0%91%E5%A5%B3

Little Feat was the backing band on one side